When Manny Ramirez was with the Red Sox, it was thought that one of his best friends was David Ortiz. They're both from the same town in the Dominican Republic, both big sluggers, and both have big personalities (for better or worse). Around the time Manny was traded from the Red Sox to the Dodgers last season, it was rumored that the veterans on the team went to management, saying enough was enough, Manny has to go; it was big news when the story reported that Ortiz was part of that group.

"It’s hard, man. You can’t even reach out to Manny when Manny was here. You think I'm kdding, but I’m serious. Who knows. He always changes numbers. When we were here playing together, OK, let’s meet at the lobby at noon to have lunch and go to field. Next thing you know, calling his phone, room, and you can’t reach him. And you just talked to him an hour ago."

Odd. OK, but what about the suspension? And him taking steroids?

"This situation shocked me. The guy worked hard every day, and it’s going to be something crazy and hard to deal with. Hopefully he knows what’s up, learns from his mistake, does the right thing." ...

One thing I know about Manny, he’s a hard worker. One thing people forget about is ... we get tested every year tons of times.

And he told me … I’m not saying anything about him. I don’t really know. I seriously don’t know. This news has shocked me, because I remember when Manny was here, the trainer would give him Tylenol because he was sore or something and he would throw it in the garbage. He wouldn’t take it.

This news here, he needs to speak out and let people know what’s up, so people understand, because that’s another thing that gets people confused. He hasn’t said anything."

You hear that, Major League Baseball? Ortiz doesn't know anything. He "seriously" doesn't know. Him and Manny? -- they barely talked. Ortiz used to have trouble even getting his newest phone number. So the fact that Big Papi went from 10 home runs in 130 games in 2000, to 54 home runs just six years later, and back down to just 23 two years after that, and now, in 2009, zero homers in 119 at-bats? All purely a coincidence.